Car construction



April 5, 1927.

H. s. HART CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. '7, 1926 Vinner side of the car walls. This construc- Patented Apr. 5,y 1927.

- IUNITED sTATEs HARRY S'. HART, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR CONSTRUCTION.

Application med october 7, 192s. seria; No. 139,983.

This application relates to a new and improved car construction and more particularly to a car wall construction especially adapted for use in connection with `cars of the hopper type.

In the construction of cars of this character the load containing capacity ofl the car hop ersuis limited by the clearance diagram of t e railroads together withthe standard height of the top of the hoppers. The hopper walls are constructed of metal plates and in order to provide the requisite strength the plates are supported by vertically extending stakes located along the side and end walls.

In constructions where the stakes are lo cated upon the outside of the car 'walls a certain amount of capacity is lost depending upon the depth of the stakes. In the en-- deavor to secure added capacities some cars have been built with the stakes upon the tion results in interference with the free discharge of the material and has the further serious disadvantage that the stakes tend to rust and thus become weakened. The material carried by the cars wears against vthe stakes in loading and unloading and protective painting is worn 0E, and due to moisture in the load the stakes rapidly deteriorate in strength.`

In answer to thisproblem an improved car design has been.l constructed, in which the main portions of the car wall are constructed to embody the advantages of both arrangements, namely of having the stakes inside and outside, without having the disadvantages of either. This improved car construction forms the subject matter of my previously filed application Serial No. 112,479, filed vMay 29, 1926. The ca r ccnstruction coveredin my former applicatlon provides a means for increasing the carrying capacity of the car by dishing out the main body of the wall plate 'so as to bring substantially the main portion of the Wall plate into the plane marking the extreme allowable width of the car under the A. R. A. rules, at the same time protecting the stakes "from the corrosion and early ldeterioration arising from the placing ofthe stakes inside'. Prior attempts lto obtain increased capacity by increasing the width have resultedin locating the stakes inside the walls. This not only exposes the stakes Ito the corrosion above mentioned, but is a more ex pensive and diflicult construction for the car shops. My structure therefore embodies a car wall construction in which the wall supportin stakes are located exteriorly of the car wa l and in which the wall is so formed intermediate the stakes as to insure a maximum load capacity.

Due to the distance holsters positioned in spaced relation on the car trucks and to the great loads supported in cars of this general type it is necessary to between the car.

construct the sidewalls of the cars' accord- .f -l

ing to the principles of a truss beam, that is, providing a tension cord7 a compression cord and proper bracing cords. In the usual type of c'ar wall construction the wall plates themselves serve to transmit the ,.3

im roved wall construction described and claimed in my previously filed application, the maJor portion ofthe wall sections are in the plates are attached to the cord members. In such an 'arrangement the wall plates which serve to transmit the stresses in supe vns Va plane outside that of the plane in which porting the lcag are bent at their margins to form angles.

The'principal object of this invention is to provide an improved 'car wall embodying all-of the advantages of my above referred to invention, together with wall plates which are'leinforced at the angles, the reinforced portions being positioned in alignment for the upper and lower angles so as to form bracing cords for transmitting straight line stresses between the upper and lower cords of the car.

Another object of my invention is to pro-l vide an improved car construction in which the side Walls have portions disposed at an angle to each other and in which are pro- '.vided means for reinforcing said angles-so loo that the angle portions will maintain their angular formation against distortion under stress.

These and other objects are accomplished by means of the arrangement disclosed on the accompanying sheet of drawings in which:-

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a railway car of the hopper type, disclosing a side wall constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1, disclosing the forma-tion of the wall plates;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on a horizontal plane through the wall shown in Figure 1, taken on the line 3 3; i

Figure 4 discloses a modification of my invention in which a strap element is employed instead of the reinforcing corrugation shown in the other figures; and

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of Figure 4 showing the modification, taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

The various novel features of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and drawing, and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing, it will be noted that my invention embodies a car wall 10 mounted on a car frame 11 carried bythe track wheels 12 and comprising a series of vertical stakes 13, plates 14 and upper and lower cord members 15 and 16 respectively. Referring to Figures 2 and 3, it will be noted that the plates 14 have an outer face 17 in a lplane which represents the extreme outer dimension of the carand connecting inclined portions 18 extending inwardly for attachment to the stakes 13. The stakes 13 constitute the vertical supports for the side Wall and in the arrangement described are positioned externally of the car body thus avoiding the disadvantage encountered when the stakes are subject to the wear and tear occasioned by internal location but which are so positioned as to avoid the usual difiiculties, namely, of diminishing the car capacity when positioned externally.

Portions of the plates 14 positioned in the inner plane are provided with flanges 20 adapted to overlap and be attached to the inner sides of the stakes. At the corners of the plates, as seen-from the outside of the car, corrugated reinforcing portions 21 are formed in a manner to prov1de an uninterrupted metal surface from some point, such as 22, located internally of-the margin of the plate 14 to the corners 23 located in the inner plane of the plate. Attention is called to the fact that the reinforced corrugations at; diagonally opposite corners of a single plate are in alignment, thereby forming a straight bracing cord of metal between the diagonally opposite corners of the frame structure formed by any two vertical stakes and the upper and lower cords. It is to be further noted, reference being had to Figure 3, that the corrugated reinforcing portions 21 establish a bracing element between the metal faces 17 and 18 of the plate, of atype to maintain the integrity of the metal angle against distortion under stress. The reinforcing corrugations as seen from the outside of the car are concave and arcuate in shape and are positioned on the diagonal of the particular plate. The plates which are completely rectangular are provided with reinforced corrugations at each cornerwhich renders these plates reversible, that is similarly constructed plates may be applied to either side of the car. The extreme end plates which are irregular in shape are provided with reinforce corrugations only at the corners where the excessive stresses are imparted.

The modification shown in Figures 4 and 5 is similar in principle, Jc he difference being, however, that a strap element 24 is employed instead of deforming the plates 14 to fprm a reinforcing corrugation. The strap is riveted as at 25 to a point located within the margin of theplate and extends to and engages the cord member 15, being bent over as at 26 and attached by rivets 27. In this form, the stresses will be transmitted from one cord member to the other diagonally through the plate by means of connecting strap 24'in the same manner as in the other modification.

By the construction shown the cubic capacity of the car is materially increased without increase in over-all dimensions. Further, the stakes are reenforced and are protected by the outwardly extending wall sections, and the dished construction adds rigidity to the wall plates and also the plates are reinforced in a manner to serve as bracing cords in accordance with the structural principle embodied in constructing side walls of cars as truss beams. While this form of construction has been shown as applied to one particular type of hopper cars, it is to be understood that I contemplate its use in connection with other types of cars Within the spirit and scope of the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A car of the class described, having a wall comprising a main portion in an outer vertical plane and a portion in an inner vertical plane, means connecting the main portion to the car frame, and means reinforcing said connecting means to maintain said portion against distortion under stress.

2. In ya yrailway car, a wall construction comprising stakes, a wall portion between the stakes, said wall portion having its enwespen tire outer face substantially in the plane of p the outer face of the stakes and being provided with inturned edges attached to the stakes, and reinforce means connecting said 5 wall portion and the frame of said car.

' 3. n a railway car, a wall portion positioned in an outer vertical plane connected to .and carried by a frame member, said frame member comprising vertical stakesv and upper and lo'wer cord members, and 10 positioned in an inner plane and means. forming a reinforcing brace iretween said wall portion andsaid frame member..

Signed et Chicago, Dlinois, this 4th day of October, 1926.

HARRY S. HART.` 

